Ｉ ｒｅｍｅｍｂｅｒ ａ ｈｉｓｔｏｒｙ ｌｅｓｓｏｎ ｄｕｒｉｎｇ ｔｈｅ ｂｅｇｉｎｎｉｎｇ ｏｆ ｍｙ ＧＣＳＥｓ。Ｗｅ ｗｅｒｅ ｌｅａｒｎｉｎｇ ａｂｏｕｔ Ｎａｚｉ Ｇｅｒｍａｎｙ （ａｇａｉｎ） ａｎｄ ｗｅｒｅ ｄｉｓｃｕｓｓｉｎｇ ｔｈｅ Ｙｏｕｔｈ Ｍｏｖｅｍｅｎｔｓ ａｎｄ ｔｈｅ Ｙｏｕｔｈ resistance ｍｏｖｅｍｅｎｔｓ, ｌｉｋｅ ｔｈｅ Ｅｉｄｅｌｗｅｉｓｓ Ｐｉｒａｔｅｓ ｅｔｃ．
Ｍｙ ｈｉｓｔｏｒｙ ｔｅａｃｈｅｒ ｓｕｄｄｅｎｌｙ ａｓｋｅｄ ｍｅ ｗｈａｔ Ｉ would ｈａｖｅ ｄｏｎｅ ｉｆ Ｉ ｈａｄ ｌｉｖｅｄ ｉｎ Ｎａｚｉ Ｇｅｒｍａｎｙ． Ａｔ ｔｈａｔ ｓｔａｇｅ ｉｎ ｍｙ ｓｃｈｏｏｌ ｌｉｆｅ Ｉ ｗａｓ ｓｏｍｅｗｈａｔ ｋｎｏｗｎ for ｂｅｉｎｇ ａ ｒｅｂｅｌ ａｎｄ ｃａｐａｂｌｅ ｏｆ ｇｉｖｉｎｇ ｌｏｎｇ ｄｉａｔｒｉｂｅｓ ｉｎ ｈｉｓｔｏｒｙ ｃｌａｓｓ from ａ ｓｈｏｃｋ－ｈｏｒｒｏｒ！ lｅｆｔ ｗｉｎｇ ｐｏｉｎｔ ｏｆ ｖｉｅｗ, ｗｈｉｃｈ ｉｎ ｔｈａｔ ｐａｒｔｉｃｕｌａｒ ｓｃｈｏｏｌ ｗａｓ ｓｏｍｅｔｈｉｎｇ ｏｆ ａｎ oddity． Ｗｈｅｎ ｈｅ ａｓｋｅｄ ｔｈｅ ｑｕｅｓｔｉｏｎ Ｉ ａｍ ｆａｉｒｌｙ ｓｕｒｅ ｈｅ ｗａｓ ｃｏｎｆｉｄｅｎｔ ｏｆ ｍｙ ａｎｓｗｅｒ， ’ｓｈｅ
Am I the only reader having trouble decyphering this entry? Letters all over the place, random snatches of sentences… Any chance you could post this one again Mish? I think your website has eaten it and spewed random bits back out again, from the looks of it…
It was a bit hard going, but worth it. I remember studying the same stuff about Nazi Germany, and wanting to believe that I would have been one of the rebels, or would have distributed leaflets for Niemoller; but at the same time having part of my mind aware of my own cowardice, and that I probably would have just kept my head down and done as I was told.
Political Rachel sounds familiar, would that be the same Rachel who organised a lot of the LAWC stuff on campus? She had the same certainty that the Feb15th protest in London would stop us attacking Iraq.
The next question is, having identified the problem, jack boots or no, what do we do about it?
The sentence about war in Europe should read war in Western Europe btw.
Will try to repost Miss UD.
Jo, yeah I think you know Political Rachel.
What do we do about it? Get the fuck off our arses and make our opinions known. Actually give a damn about what is being passed in our own parliament. Vote in new people next year would be my best bet.
Suggestions of your own Jo?
I don’t know. I’m voting Green in May that’s for sure, trying to get other people to care, which is necessary to actually achieve anything, is an uphill struggle. Sitting in Union meetings and listening to people go on about how the union has to be apolitical and shouldn’t take a stance on political issues, despite the obvious contradictions that position entails, can be somewhat depressing.
Any chance you could email me the contents of the entry, hon?
Thanks to Jo for emailing me the text.
This was the entry I put on my own blog in response, Mish:
This makes me think of a scene from ‘Crimson Tide’ (IMHO one of the most underrated films about war and the military ever made. If faced with the central choice in that film, I don’t know to this day which side I would lean towards)
Lieutenant Commander Hunter, the new XO of a nuclear submarine, is asked at his first dinner with the rest of the officers, to answer this question, who is the true enemy?
His answer is a line which has come up in my thoughts again and again in recent times. Throughout the aftermath of 9/11, throughout the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and it popped up in my head again on Rememberence Day. The first time I heard it, the simplicity and accuracy stunned me (I must have been about 15 at the time) and every time I hear it now, I despair.
His answer? : In my humble opinion, in the nuclear world, the true enemy is war itself.